White noise or audiobooks for sleeping?

[Rb211]

Hi I’m new here but have had T for around 20 years. It’s fairly high frequency so not debilitating and I can pretty much ignore it most of the time. I’m currently on a course of antibiotics which has caused it to peak. I have always used audiobooks to help me ignore it at night but last nigh my network went down so I decided to try white noise. It was terrible, made my T seem much worse. I was so glad when my network came back on and I could fire up some short stories on audible. I was wondering if others have had similar experiences or if it is just me that can’t get away with white noise?

[doglover1973]

Hi there. Welcome. I use CD's of natural sounds - like the sea or rainfall - to fall asleep. With audiobooks I tend to listen too much and they keep me awake. I'm glad your network is back up & running!

[Rb211 in reply to doglover1973]

Thanks for your reply! I find that short stories don’t require too much of my attention and I tend to drop off quite quickly, winding back if I wake up in the night. Music is the big no no for me as I become engrossed listening to it! I’ll give natural sounds a try as there seems to be a fair number of apps available. Thanks again

[doglover1973 in reply to Rb211]

It's trial & error with natural sound. I just love the sound of water - or at least my T does. If I shower, wash up or even flush the loo it's a few moments of relief. There's a good app - if you like apps - by Resound. Lots of sounds to choose from. Plus some meditations for daytime relaxing. Nice for the times when T spikes.

[Rb211 in reply to doglover1973]

Excellent - I’ll give that a try!

[surreycccfan]

I always have some downloads from BBC Sounds on my phone for when I may be out and about without a network, they have some great audio books, podcasts, etc. on there (plus its free). When I used sound therapy at night, I rarely used white noise. I used the free ReSoundRelief App (there are plenty of other apps out there) as you can program up to five sounds, like doglover I used natural sounds (beach, rain and thunder).

[Rb211 in reply to surreycccfan]

Excellent suggestion. I must admit that I forgot that you can download on bbc sounds. I suppose I tend to take streaming for granted. 👍

[rabbits65]

It’s strange really because sometimes my head and ears are ok with radio 2 going mostly , but then I get moments when I feel I want peace and quiet , it’s not always easy to know what to do

[doglover1973 in reply to rabbits65]

I know the feeling Penny. I miss the silence 😞

[RONf in reply to doglover1973]

Hi Doglover1973 I too have had very nasty spikes when I have been prescribed anti-biotics - the last one lasted nearly three months. I am okay with penicillin - no more anti-biotics for me! I prefer white noise when I have a spike - just at a volume level less than my T. Currently I am coping well., but some times I listen to LBC at night if I'm not too tired! Keeps me distracted before I nod off.

Hope your spike calms down soon. Take care.

[Bba6 in reply to doglover1973]

Me too!!!

[Mags1417]

Hi. I have always used audio books to help sleep even after my T appeared. I listen to audio books from my local library - I think each library might have a different platform - my library uses Borrow Box. The books download onto your device so I’m never without a story and doesn’t depend on network - as long as you have one downloaded ready! It’s a free service but unlike audible you borrow the book for a period of time - but you can extend the time. Music keeps me awake. I listen to a variety of natural sounds - have used free apps, Spotify and Oto. Am actually liking Relax melodies at the moment. Am using the free version but you can mix a few of the sounds (that are unlocked) so I have wind, birds and eternity mix at the moment which is a mix of natural sounds but with some regular notes/tones - which I actually find very relaxing. A couple of the free sleep meditations are also helping and you can make a play list. White noise doesn’t work for me. I think it is just because it is constant and doesn’t vary? At the start of my T I used the free Tinnitus masking app - again you can mix sounds on here and play around with adding or using other noise e.g pink /brown. But I again tend to mix or listen to natural sound. At the start of my T I used audio voice and masking sound. Then I was able to go back to audio. Having been experiencing a T spike I’m back to audio voice and masking. I have an old phone and new one to do this as some up won’t play over other. The Tinnitus mask but a back up old kindle device just in case and a very old CD player for emergencies!!! The Tinnitus masker app will also continue to play with Borrow Box so this is a real bonus as only need one device.

[Rb211]

Sounds useful - I have online access at our local library but haven’t really explored the audiobooks. Thanks for the tip!

[robtheprint]

Hi Rb211, have you tried listening to Meditation/Music for Yoga? I find this very helpful and helps me drift off to sleep especially the Chanting. Audio Books and White Noise do not have the same effect on my T. I now use Alexa for this so really unlimited choice.